Melbourne Cup hopeful Amade bombs start in Bendigo Cup by 20 lengths, will likely miss big race

Liam O'Loughlin

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Melbourne Cup hopeful Amade bombs start in Bendigo Cup by 20 lengths, will likely miss big race image

Melbourne Cup hopeful Amade has thrown away its chances of landing a spot in the big race, after it ran 5th in Wednesday afternoon's Bendigo Cup.

The eight-year-old was one of the fancied runners in the field after running 4th in last week's Geelong Cup, and needed to run a place at Bendigo to secure a spot in 'the race that stops the nation'.

Unfortunately for trainer Phillip Stokes and connections of the Irish gelding, he blew the start at Bendigo by a whopping 20 lengths and was never a hope of winning.

What makes things more devastating is that Amade has run home to finish 5th and only 3.5 lengths off the winner Wentwood, making it a real 'what if' scenario that will no doubt lead to a few restless nights.

Watch the footage of Amade missing the start and its final 100 metres below, courtesy of Racing.com. 

Amade has a fantastic overall career record of nine wins from 19 starts, but its recent form here in Australia has proven costly in a bid to enter to the Melbourne Cup next Tuesday.

Punters and fans on social media were quick to question how well Amade could have gone if he had jumped with the rest of the field. 




 


 


 

 

Liam O'Loughlin

Liam O'Loughlin Photo

Liam has been with The Sporting News since 2019, helping lead both NRL and cricket content, as well as delving into the world of combat sports and NFL. A true rugby league tragic, he has spent the past 20 years playing, coaching and volunteering for his beloved junior club, Penshurst RSL. 

Away from work, Liam has a lifelong passion for all things pro wrestling and has travelled abroad to attend showcase events for WWE, AEW and NJPW.